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[Geezer]

Am I the only one who thinks the front page announcement on HOTU is a little out of place or a least over zealous? The whole long live HOTU thing sounds cultish and strange coming from our admins.

[TotalAnarchy]

Well, I never did visit this site when it was alive, so I don't know. My only complain is that it steals traffic from us, when people click that link. But generally, supporting the abandobrothers is a good a thing.

[Geezer]

My first reaction when seeing that was "Why should I care? And what does it have to do with us?" I thought our objective was to build up our own community, not sing the praises of other ones.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by JMB

My first reaction when seeing that was "Why should I care? And what does it have to do with us?" I thought our objective was to build up our own community, not sing the praises of other ones.

Well, for me it's also Abandonia first, but why shouldn't we take care of what happens to our neighbours. HotU was (and appartently stays) one of the best sources for abandonware related material on the net, besides us.
Maybe the newspost is a bit gushy, but I wouldn't want to argue phrases. It's a good message to see HotU alive.

Anyway,

[The Fifth Horseman]

The whole long live HOTU thing sounds cultish and strange coming from our admins.

Gee, it was supposed to sound humorous and light-hearted.

Have you seen the place, anyway? In it's current state, the revived HotU doesn't qualify as any kind of competition whatsoever.
Downloads may be the primary attractor for Abandonware sites, but it's the community that makes people stick around for longer. While they can get some of the downloads back online within next week or so, a community can't be build with nothing but a snap of your fingers. Seeing as most of HotU's original community scattered to four winds long ago, they're back at square zero in this regard.

[red_avatar]

HOTU is the grandfather of all Abandonware sites. It became a benchmark for other sites. Other sites at the time (1997-1998) merely offered downloads and little else but HOTU was one of the first sites (if not THE first) to use its site as a library where you can find information on the game and not just a download. On top of that, they focussed on forgotten gems and not just on the typical Sierra/Lucas Arts/Westwood/Bullfrog games that nearly every shady abandonware site has.

I did visited the remake and it needs a LOT of work. For starters, it needs to move with the times and not stick to where HOTU got stranded. Its screenshots are horrible and there's too few of them. The info at the top takes up WAY too much space as well and line spacing needs to be more compact as well. They got a lot still to do and then they need to find a host willing to serve all those GBs of data.

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

Gee, it was supposed to sound humorous and light-hearted.

Have you seen the place, anyway? In it's current state, the revived HotU doesn't qualify as any kind of competition whatsoever.
Downloads may be the primary attractor for Abandonware sites, but it's the community that makes people stick around for longer. While they can get some of the downloads back online within next week or so, a community can't be build with nothing but a snap of your fingers. Seeing as most of HotU's original community scattered to four winds long ago, they're back at square zero in this regard.

Maybe I took it the wrong way but HOTU has never been anything more than another abandonware site to me and I have been around a long time. First or not. It hasn't been a going concern for quite some time and nothing that I saw at the link provided made me think it is going to be anything that special compared to what is available today.

The only thing that irked me a little is the impression it gives to first time visitors and newbie AB fans. We don't want to give the impression that this isn't the place to be. Right? We had already dedicated a discussion thread to it and now it takes a large part of the front page.

[Panthro]

If people have been here before going to the new HOTU, they may notice there are no downloads and check back here.

Those of us here aren't going to leave, and new people will have a choice of places to go. I hope that they choose Abandonia, but we will see.

I also agree that their website needs a lot of work. I couldn't even figure out how to find the "top dog" titles. Searching through was far easier in its deceased version.

[RRS]

Originally Posted by red_avatar

HOTU is the grandfather of all Abandonware sites. It became a benchmark for other sites. Other sites at the time (1997-1998) merely offered downloads and little else but HOTU was one of the first sites (if not THE first) to use its site as a library where you can find information on the game and not just a download.

Back then it even served more info than MobyGames (at least I preferred HOTU to Moby).

I just hope the revived project will get some face-lifting - their current site is not only ugly but also hard to read.
Makes my old project look even less amateurish...

[Eagle of Fire]

Maybe it is just me, but I like the new design tons more than the old one. :bleh: